


Plus One

by stardustpaths



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-14
Updated: 2015-05-14
Packaged: 2018-03-30 10:38:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3933646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardustpaths/pseuds/stardustpaths
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel realizes he's in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Plus One

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday Ula!

Castiel’s gaze lazily followed a bunch of dandelion seeds floating in the air, his eyes half-closed and thoughts unfocused. It was nice not to think about anything specific for a while, just basking in the sun and enjoying the day. The summer was coming to an end and it was probably one of the last warm days before the fall, so he and Hannah decided to take advantage of it, spending the afternoon in the park.

They’d walked around for a while, talking aimlessly, and finally ended up on a bench in Cas’ favorite spot near the pond, hidden from the view behind hydrangea shrubs. The place was quiet and secluded, perfect to sit down away from other people’s eyes. Castiel liked bringing others there, usually one of his sisters or Dean. It always felt like sharing some kind of a secret, and he wanted the people he cared about to be a part of it.

The only other person around was an old lady feeding ducks a few feet away, throwing crumbs into the water. The ducks crowded close to the edge, wiggling their tails and dipping their heads to catch the drowning bits of food. Cas didn’t mind her presence. She was there often enough for them to become something close to acquaintances, even though they never actually talked.

“Mom invited us to dinner next Sunday,” Hannah sighed unhappily after a while, playing with a small twig she’d picked up on their way there.

Cas looked at her, narrowing his eyes. “You don’t seem too happy about it.” The family dinners weren’t anything new; between his mom and two sisters it was a good excuse to spend some time together. They usually passed smoothly, in a warm atmosphere, and as long as Cas remembered everyone enjoyed them. That is until now.

Hannah scrunched her nose and shrugged, observing the old lady. “Ever since Anna got engaged, Mom expects both of us to bring someone home. Like it’s some sort of a competition.”  

Well, that was true, Castiel couldn’t disagree. Their mother had been over the moon when Anna had announced her engagement to Jo, and gave both him and Hannah a lot of not so subtle hints that she was waiting for them to find their other halves, the sooner the better. It didn’t bother him that much, but apparently Hannah’s reaction was a lot stronger than his.

“I’m sure she’s going to calm down soon,” he said, trying to reassure his sister. After all it had been only a few weeks since the engagement. A couple more months and their mother would be too occupied with the wedding to nag them all the time.

“I don’t know Cas, I feel like it’s only going to get worse,” Hannah complained. “At this rate she’ll be asking about grandchildren before we know it. And I bet she’s going to try to matchmake us with someone at the wedding.”

Castiel huffed. “Maybe you’re right. But we’ll live. We’re stronger than this.” He nudged her with his shoulder.

Hannah rolled her eyes. “It’s easy to say for you. At least you have Dean.”

Cas shook his head. “Well, it wouldn’t count if I took him to Mom’s dinner, we’re not together.” Dean had been his best friend for years but that was it, they weren’t actually dating or anything. Dean was just always _there_ and that seemed to be enough. Though for some reason Castiel felt a wave of heat washing over him at the thought of dating Dean. Or maybe it just had gotten considerably warmer in the last few seconds, because there was no reason for him to react that way, wasn’t it?

“Well, you certainly act like you are,” Hannah said pointedly. “I don’t think Mom would be able to tell the difference.”

Cas swallowed. Somehow he never thought about dating Dean before and now his stomach was doing a weird dance and suddenly it was hard to focus on anything else. Were they really already acting like a couple? And why the hell he felt so pleased that they did? It made no sense. True, he couldn’t remember when was the last time he was with someone, and he mostly just hung out with Dean these days, but that didn’t mean anything.

“I’m not sure if Dean would appreciate unexpected questions about our future children,” he tried to brush the whole thing off.

Hannah laughed, unaware of the storm happening in Castiel’s head. “Probably not.”

“You know what, maybe you should bring Mr Fluffy with you, just like when we were kids,” Cas said, trying to calm down his heart, which was currently almost jumping out of his chest. “Good old times.” Mr Fluffy had been Hannah’s favorite teddy bear when they were little and she used to bring him everywhere with her. Castiel’s childhood was full of tea parties with him and Hannah.

“You’re awful, you know?” Hannah punched him in the arm. “I’m revoking your brother status until the end of the day.”

“Fine,” Cas agreed absentmindedly, still thinking about Dean.

There was a high possibility that he was in love with Dean. In fact, he was almost entirely sure he was in love with Dean. He just didn’t know yet what he should do with that knowledge. It left him dizzy and confused and a little appalled that he didn’t notice it before. Because really, how could he not notice being in love with someone?

It seemed that when the realization finally came, it wasn’t going to let Cas think about anything else.

The next morning he burned fried eggs imagining holding Dean’s hand, how its rough texture would feel under his own fingers. He ate them anyway, thinking about a little spark of warmth shared between joined hands. They tasted awful.

Later, while he was shelving books at the library he worked in, he dropped a heavy tome at his foot, wondering how Dean’s lips would feel if he kissed him. It hurt a lot and he promised himself he would stop daydreaming, but he whole thing got even worse when he was heading back home, and almost crossed the street on the red light, his head stuck on an image of Dean’s bright smile.

He had to pull himself together before their weekly gaming night later, or he probably would end up putting them both in danger. He wouldn’t put past himself accidentally stabbing Dean in the eye with the controller, while admiring his face.

When Castiel arrived at Dean’s place he’d managed to mostly calm down, but his calmness disappeared as soon as Dean opened the door. He looked gorgeous. There was a happy glint in his eyes and his face was still covered in gold freckles after the summer. Castiel had seen him a few days ago, but somehow this time everything felt so different and new, like he could properly see for the first time in his life. It was maddening.

Dean wanted to play Muscle March. The game was absurd - Charlie had given it to him as a joke - but for some reason they both had gotten really competitive at it and now they played it fairly often. Though Castiel still wasn’t over mostly naked men swinging their butts in a chase after a thief of protein powder.

Cas was distracted the whole time, glancing at Dean every few seconds and thinking about kissing him, and kept losing until Dean asked him if he was okay and switched to single player mode. Cas hummed noncommittally, not sure what to say.

He knew he loved Dean, but it hit him that maybe Dean didn’t feel the same and he was going to be stuck with this longing for the rest of his life. Maybe he should spare them both the pain and forget about everything? No, it was ridiculous. He should talk to Dean and say how he felt. The thing was, something inside was stopping him. He had no idea how to even start that conversation, not to mention actually going through with it.

“Come on, I almost got him! This game is a joke.” Dean threw his arms in the air a few minutes later, interrupting Cas’ thoughts.

Castiel scratched his head with the remote, deciding to drop the subject for the night. “Let’s try one more time,” he said, trying to smile.

“I hate that blue guy! I hope he steps on legos every day for the rest of his life,” Dean grumbled, starting a new game.

The silent torture continued two days later while Dean was trying out a new pie recipe, and Cas was serving as his usual test subject. Castiel twisted in his seat in Dean’s bright kitchen, trying to calm his nerves down, which wasn’t simple, given that Dean was smiling widely, a little crinkles showing in the corners of his eyes, as he talked about some salt eating shapeshifter from Star Trek between the mouthfuls of pie, gesturing with his fork. He looked so beautiful and so full of life it was almost too much to take.

There was no point in dragging this any longer.

“I think I love you,” Cas blurted out, before he could stop himself, and proceeded to stuff his mouth with pie, like it could somehow save him from whatever was going to happen next.

Dean laughed. “Yeah I know, that pie turned out amazing. I outdid myself this time,” he said, still completely oblivious to Cas’ confession.

Cas sighed, brushing a hand across his face. Of course something like that had to happen when he was close to going out of his mind in the middle of Dean’s kitchen because of his newly realized feelings for him. But there was no turning back now. “No, Dean, I meant it. I think I’m in love with you.”

Dean opened and closed his mouth a few times, the fork in his hand frozen in mid-air. Maybe that was a mistake, Castiel thought weakly. Maybe for Dean it was a friendship and nothing else. Now he could only hope he didn’t destroy everything with his confession.

“Oh,” Dean finally said. “Thank god.”

Cas frowned. “What?” This wasn’t a reaction he expected.

“I love you too, you dumbass,” Dean mumbled. “I was just waiting for the right moment to say it. I guess you were faster.”

Cas’ heart sped up rapidly. “Okay. Great,” he said, lightheaded. He had to fight an urge to pinch himself to check if it wasn’t a dream. Dean was real, his words were real. Castiel lived in a reality where Dean loved him back, and it made him so awfully happy that he was close to exploding.

Dean rubbed his neck. “So, uh. Should we kiss now?”

“Probably,” Castiel said with a grin.

Dean smiled, leaning across the the table, his eyes focused on Castiel. Cas followed his example, but then stopped halfway there, a sudden thought appearing in his mind. “There’s one more thing,” he said, inches from Dean’s freckled face. “Do you want to go with me to a family dinner this Sunday?”

“Sure, why not?” Dean shrugged.

Castiel couldn’t stop himself from chuckling at that. Hannah was going to revoke his brother status forever.

Dean narrowed his brow, confused. “Why are you laughing?”

“Hannah is going to kill me,” Castiel said, closing the remaining space between them.


End file.
